Functional Path Training

The Functional Path is a path that had been traveled many times before but had fallen out of use in favor of smoother paved roads that promised faster and easier results. Seeking to follow and better define the functional path is a continuing journey, fortunately it is a journey that many have traveled before. Functional Path training is getting back to the basics of movement. It is learning to tune into the body and it’s inherent wisdom to produce rhythmic flowing movement.

5/6/08

Change of Venue

This blog has been moved to a new venue. The new URL is:

www.functionalpathtraining.typepad.com

I am looking forward to having you join me on the new site. Due to circumstances beyond my control the blog was off line for five days. Because of the poor service from Google and the lack of security that enabled this to occur I decided to change venue. Nothing will change in regard to philosophy, however I will moderate the posts more closely.The tone that the comments were taking was unacceptable and unprofessional. This blog is for professionals who are interested in sharing information and exchanging ideas in a sane professional manner.

4/20/08

England FA In-Service

In my continual quest to gather more frequent flyer miles that I will probably never be able to use because award seats are never available, (That is a story for another blog) I am off to England today. Tuesday and Wednesday I will be doing an In-Service workshop for the English Football Association (Real football – Soccer for the uninitiated that still think the Super Bowl is super). This is for Fitness coaches of professional teams. It will be at Loughborough University. Should be a fun opportunity, I am honored to be invited, also will be able to spend the rest of the week catching up with some old friends.

4/19/08

Prisoners of Gravity – The Movie

Coming soon to a theater near you, in the best film noir tradition, is the latest blockbuster movie by Broken Body Productions. The main characters are compelling and will capture your imagination. The lead character and the villain is MR GRAVITY. The good guy is THE BODY, that magnificent self organizing and problem solving movement genius. Appearing in a crucial supporting role, THE GROUND, is terra firma where we live, work and play. The plot is quite intricate and will have you holding your breath while sitting on the edge of your seat. THE BODY is trying to move faster, higher and stronger in the best Olympic tradition. In order to do that it must learn to effectively cheat that evil villain, MR GRAVITY, by fooling it with training tricks that enable to use THE GROUND as his friend. After all THE BODY knows that he must use THE GROUND as a launching pad. The spellbinding chase scene follows THE BODY on the functional path journey down one way streets, through red lights around blind corners to a spectacular ending. To find out the ending you will need to join us on our travel down the functional path – safe travels.

Playing on one leg

Because we play on one leg we should train and assess on leg. The picture is a powerful justification for single leg squats, lunges, hops and step-ups. In summary exercises that involve force reduction onto and off of one leg.

4/16/08

Validation

Is winning a validation that a training program is successful? Absolutely not! There are so many factors that go into winning. Many teams and individuals win in spite of the training programs they use. I think over the long term a good sound Athletic Development program makes a huge contribution, but to use winning as a validation that a program is effective does not do justice to the whole process. A great conditioning program without the support of the head coach and the assistant coaches will not be effective. A great program without a buy in and a commitment from the athletes is a shadow program. In short winning is not validation of an Athletic Development program. How about the situation where one year a team wins a championship and the Strength & Conditioning coach is lauded as the second coming, produces the a Winning Secrets DVD and next year they are at the bottom of the table. Did he get stupid all of a sudden? I know strength and conditioning coaches who have multiple championship rings who hardly ever worked with players on their teams. Are the rings validation of their expertise as a coach? Look beyond the hype. Look for substance not style.

4/15/08

Open Season on Hamstrings

I lost track a bit when I was in Abu Dhabi on the current stats in regard to hamstring pulls in MLB. On doing a little checking it appears that gravity is still undefeated. Just a tongue and cheek reminder to keep religiously doing those hamstring curls, supplemented by Ham/Glute raises and be sure to add a heavy dose of pre-game static stretching especially when it is cold. If you want to add a little icing to the cake and insure more pulls be sure to do Nordic hamstring curls immediately after you do some high speed treadmill runs. Happy hamstring pulling!

4/13/08

Abu Dhabi - The last two days

I am writing this blog 38,000 feet over Iran on my way back to the US. The trip to Abu Dhabi to work with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council was a great experience. Just getting the opportunity to spend six days with Kelvin Giles and Michael Dalgleish was worth the trip. I learned so much more about the application of the Athletic Profile, how to adapt it and use it help prescribe exercises. The opportunity to work in a different culture and a different sport culture is always eye opening. There is much potential if they take their time, emphasize the correct sports and don’t get impatient. The pictures are from physical education classes we observed on Thursday at two schools:The first was the girls Alafaq Model School and the second was the Al Ameen Normal school a boy’s public school. These were impressive lessons taught by very well trained professionals. At the girls school two of the three PE teachers trained in Egypt, the other trained in Sudan. The woman who was the supervisor of PE also trained in Egypt. At the boys school the PE teachers were women who were all trained in Egypt. The girls were aged six to nine. The boys were aged nine to thirteen. The boy’s class was large, eighty boys taught by one woman teacher. It started with a warm-up using the ABC Ladder. Great discipline and concentration. Both schools only had PE once a week. One of our recommendations was to have at least four lessons and if possible five. Later in the week when I get over the jet lag I will post some video of these two lessons.

4/11/08

Abu Dhabi “First Steps to High Performance Conference”

These are pictures from the conference we presented on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council on Wednesday. There were 365 people in attendance. The audience included coaches, physical education teachers, Doctors, sports administrators and physical therapists. The conference was held at Zayed University for Women.

About Me

Vern is currently is the Director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems. He has been the a conditioning coach for several teams in Major League Soccer as well as the conditioning consultant to the US Men’s World Cup Soccer team. Vern is the former Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox and Director of Athletic Development for the New York Mets. Vern is recognized internationally as an expert in training and conditioning for sport having worked with world class athletes and teams in a wide variety of sports. He is a popular speaker and writer on conditioning topics having lectured and conducted clinics in Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe. Vern's coaching experience spans 36 years at all levels of competition.
Vern has authored six books and over one hundred articles related to coaching and sport performance in a variety of sports. He received his BA from Fresno State University and his teaching credential with a coaching minor from University of California Santa Barbara. Vern obtained his MA in Education with an emphasis in physical education from Stanford University.